CSU must withstand Louisville's pressure

Limiting turnovers key for Rams to upset No. 1 Cardinals

Colorado State guard Dorian Green (22) reacts as time expires in their 84-72 victory over Missouri in a second-round NCAA college basketball tournament game, Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
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James Crisp
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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- After winning one strength-on-strength matchup Thursday by dominating the rebounding battle against Missouri (42-19), the Colorado State men's basketball team will be facing another something-must-give matchup today against No. 1 overall seed Louisville (3:15 p.m., CBS-4) in the NCAA Tournament's round of 32.

Coach Rick Pitino's Cardinals (30-5) wreak havoc with their pressure defense, forcing 18.9 turnovers a game, the second-most in the country. On average 11 of those giveaways come from steals (also second in the country) leading to 23.2 points off turnovers a game -- or 31.4 percent of their offense. Much of the disruption comes from starting guards Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, who both average more than two swipes a game.

Meanwhile the No. 8 Rams (26-8) are one of the best teams in the country at not giving it away, their 10.8 turnovers a game ranking 13th-fewest in the country.

So, once again, something must give.

"You have two contrasting styles," Pitino said. "They only average 10 turnovers. We force a lot. Who knows until the ball is thrown up what's going to happen."

But as good as good as the Rams have been at protecting the ball, coach Larry Eustachy knows his team will be "tested beyond what we've seen all year."

The Mountain West mayhave been a great night-in-night-out test in terms of the conference's strength from top to bottom. But the league wasn't exactly filled with great pressure defenses. In fact, Wyoming's 13.

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0 forced turnovers a game lead the league, and that ranks only 192nd out of 347 Division I teams.

CSU senior point guard Dorian Green said the closest comparison to what the Rams will face is when coach Lon Kruger was with UNLV. But that was two seasons ago.

"Knowing they're going to get deflections and pressuring and coming up with steals, we can't turn the ball over," Green said. "It comes down to just all five guys being sharp in our press breaking and running it with perfection and being crisp every single time."

From Day 1 Eustachy made protecting the ball a priority, forcing players to run 30-second sprints in practice every time they committed a turnover. Now he hopes all the emphasis will pay off as the team seeks its second-ever Sweet 16 appearance.

"We can't be on our heels, or we'll have no chance," Eustachy said. "We just have to be men and be strong with it and not let them jar it loose from us, because we're going to get it for 40 minutes. I think we're prepared for it, but we'll see."

Odds-makers say the Rams are double-digit underdogs (10.5). But according to Pitino, there's a very realistic scenario in which his top-seeded team becomes the first No. 1 seed to get knocked out by a No 8 since Butler beat Pittsburgh two years ago.

Louisville's strength is a key, but so too is CSU's and its dominance on the glass.

"If Colorado State dominates the glass and if there's not a disparity in turnovers, they win this game," said Pitino, whose team has won 11 straight by an average of 17.0 points a game. "They have better perimeter shooting; they are better back-court people. So we've got to do certain things tomorrow, or their style is going to win."

Colorado State's style -- a senior-laden group that controls the boards and runs a "freestyle motion" offense -- has Pitino's full attention. Because the Rams are so balanced offensively and every player can "pass, catch and shoot," they remind the Louisville coach of Notre Dame. The Irish, as it turns out, were the last team to beat the Cardinals in a 104-101 five-overtime thriller on Feb. 9.

"When you play against the Notre Dames and Colorado States that run a lot of pure motion, it's very difficult. You have to have smart players who are triple-threat people," Pitino said. "You don't get a whole lot of teams like that.

"So it is more difficult than the team that runs sets and you can prepare for. They are very difficult to prepare for."

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